After their 23-17 home loss Sunday to the Falcons, the Bears returned to work Monday at Halas Hall looking for the proper way to process their close-but-no-cigar defeat. Here's some of what we learned as the team moved past its disappointment.

Freeman didn't speak with reporters after Sunday's game because he was in the concussion protocol after experiencing symptoms. Coach John Fox revealed Monday that Freeman also has a pectoral injury the Bears are evaluating.

And while Fox didn't elaborate on the severity of that setback, with this team it's fair to fear the worst. If it's a torn pectoral muscle, that would almost certainly be season-ending .

Either way, Nick Kwiatkoski should be preparing to start alongside Danny Trevathan this week. Even before Freeman's injury setbacks, Kwiatkoski's encouraging growth had him on Freeman's heels in the competition for playing time.

Freeman's head injury, Fox surmised Monday, may have been partly to blame for the 88-yard Austin Hooper touchdown catch the Bears allowed in the fourth quarter.

The Bears seemed confused before the snap, with Fox noting again Monday there was a miscommunication on the defensive call. Freeman is the defense's signal caller.

"I'm not sure if that might have been a result of Jerrell with the concussion or not, but we just didn't get it communicated," Fox said.

Fox also noted that a linebacker — either Freeman or Trevathan — was supposed to carry Hooper farther on his seam route while safety Quintin Demps also should've been shading more toward the middle of the field.

The overall confusion, whatever the explanation, proved costly.

Photos from the Bears-Falcons Week 1 game at Soldier Field on Sept. 10, 2017.

Tarik Cohen's absence from the field for three goal-to-go plays in the final minute is worthy of debate.

The Bears ran four potential game-winning plays from the Falcons 5 in the final 21 seconds. Yet Cohen wasn't on the field for the first three, despite being the team's biggest offensive threat Sunday.

Cohen led the team with eight catches and totaled 113 yards from scrimmage. Fox on Monday explained the rookie's use in the closing stages.

"With the running back position, there's a lot to that job — not just what kind of athlete you are getting out of the backfield," Fox said. "There's a lot of protection involved, and we'd had a couple of those issues earlier in the game. Without getting into too much detail, that was the reason."

For what it's worth, Jordan Howard was in the backfield on first, second and third down on the final series, and with the Falcons not bringing extra pressure, he migrated into a pass pattern on all three plays. On second down, Howard dropped a would-be touchdown pass at the 1.

The Bears run defense is strong.

The preseason returns were positive, and the Bears backed those up Sunday by holding Falcons backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman to 53 yards on 20 carries, 2.7 per attempt. The collective efforts of Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Roy Robertson-Harris, Jonathan Bullard and Mitch Unrein on the defensive line have been notable.

Said Hicks: "We're tenacious, man. Guys are getting after it. We're hitting. Just tougher and stronger."